Big Night In Vegas At NHL Awards

Hockey is considered by many to be the ultimate team sport. For one night a year, however, the best players on the planet gather in the city of Las Vegas, to honor the best individual players in this great team sport. It's the one night of the year where all the major individual hardware is handed out. We found out who was determined to be the best player, goalie, coach, rookie, and defenseman in the entire league during the 2013-14 NHL season. It would take too long to get into details and debate over every award that was handed out last night. So what's going to happen is we will list the winners of every award, going into some debate over the big ones. Without further ado, here are the big individual winners from the NHL Awards.

Art Ross Trophy (NHL Scoring Champion):
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins - 36 goals 68 assists 104 points

Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy (Top Goal Scorer):
Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals - 51 goals

William M. Jennings Trophy (Awarded to the goalkeeper(s) having played a minimum of 25 games for the team with the fewest goals scored against it in the regular season):
Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings - 174

NHL Foundation Player Award (Awarded to the player who applies the core values of hockey to enrich the lives of people in his community):
Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins

Mark Messier Leadership Award (Awarded to the player who exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice, during the regular season):
Dustin Brown, Los Angeles Kings

King Clancy Memorial Trophy (Awarded to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community):
Andrew Ference, Edmonton Oilers

Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (Awarded to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey):
Dominic Moore, New York Rangers

NHL General Manager of the Year Award (Awarded to the top National Hockey League General Manager):
Bob Murray, Anaheim Ducks

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (Awarded to the player who exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability):
Ryan O'Reilly, Colorado Avalanche

Frank J. Selke Trophy (Awarded to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game):
Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins

Jack Adams Award (Awarded to the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success): 
Patrick Roy, Colorado Avalanche

Roy was able to beat out Mike Babcock of the Detroit Red Wings and Jon Coooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the honor of Coach of the Year, and with good reason. A year ago, the Avalanche finished 29th in the League and last in the Western Conference. They hired Roy, who won the Stanley Cup twice with Colorado as its goalie, to right the ship. This season, the Avalanche won the Central Division, finishing with the third best record in the NHL, before falling to the Minnesota Wild in seven games in the Western Conference First Round. That's a major turn around, and its even more impressive considering the fact that this is Roy's first job behind an NHL bench. He has coaching experience in the minors, but its a bit of a different animal coaching in the NHL and Roy did a tremendous job of it.

Calder Memorial Trophy (Awarded to the league's most outstanding rookie player): 
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche

MacKinnon was a near-unanimous choice, easily beating out Tyler Johnson and ONdrej Paalat of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The 18-year-old (9/1/95) becomes the youngest Calder winner ever. Carolina forward Jeff Skinner (5/16/92) was three and a half months older when he captured the award in 2011. 

MacKinnon topped all first-year players in points (63), goals (24-tied), assists (39), power-play goals (8), game-winning goals (5-tied) and shots (241). The first overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft tallied at least one point in 13 consecutive games from Jan. 25 to March 6 (5-13—18), breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL record for the longest single-season point streak by a player age 18 or younger (12 games).

James Norris Memorial Trophy (Awarded to the defenseman who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position):
Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks

For Duncan Keith, this marks the 2nd time he has claimed the leagues top defenseman trophy, last winning the title in 2010. He beat out two very solid candidates in their own right in Zedeno Chara of the Boston Bruins and Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators. Keith was one of the big reasons the Blackhawks where right near the top of the Western Conference again this season. Keith is the only active NHL player with more than one Norris Trophy to his credit. Since 1990, only Ray Bourque, Brian Leetch, Chris Chelios, and Nicklas Lidstrom have won the Norris Trophy more than once.

Vezina Trophy (Awarded to the league's top goaltender):
Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins

Rask was the top choice for 16 of the 30 General Managers and received 103 voting points to edge second-place Semyon Varlamov of the Colorado Avalanche (9 first-place votes, 90 points). Rask's win marks the third time in the past six seasons that a Bruins netminder has taken Vezina honors, following first-place finishes by Tim Thomas in 2009 and 2011. 

Rask posted a 36-15-6 record, highlighted by a career-best 10-game point streak from Mar. 20-30 (9-0-1), as the Bruins captured their first Presidents’ Trophy since 1990 and led the Eastern Conference in team defense (2.08 GA/game). He allowed two goals or fewer in 37 of 58 starts, set single-season highs in wins and appearances, and was the only goaltender to rank among the NHL’s top five in each of the major statistical categories: first in shutouts (seven), second in save percentage (.930), fourth in goals-against average (2.04) and fifth in wins.

Hart Memorial Trophy (Awarded to the league's most valuable player): 
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins

Crosby won the award by a pretty decent margin, beating out Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks and Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers. Now Giroux and Getzlaf both had a major impact on their respective hockey clubs, but Crosby had a greater impact on his. There were times this year where the Penguins looked outclassed and outmatched. Crosby did what he does best, lead his team on the ice. Crosby deserved his 2nd career Hart Trophy. This season was a proven bounceback year for Sid The Kid.